meraki

Investing in enterprise startups is a long-odds game, but if you play your cards right you can hit the jackpot. That was one of the takeaways of a conversation today between Doug Leone, a partner at storied VC firm Sequoia; Sanjit Biswas, co-founder of enterprise WiFi startup Meraki and Michael Arrington this morning at TC Disrupt in San Francisco. Read More

Networking tech giant Cisco has just agreed to acquire cloud infrastructure startup Meraki, and my industry sources confirm the purchase price was $1.2 billion, all in cash. I’ve also gotten ahold of the letter to Meraki employees from CEO Sanjit Biswas. It’s a huge win for the 330 employee San Francisco startup. [Update: The PR just hit the wire, confirming our details on… Read More

Meraki wants to celebrate 150 percent revenue growth and its 10,000th customer by bringing Oprah’s generosity to networking infrastructure. Now any company with angel, seed, or Series A funding can apply for a free Meraki Startup Kit with wireless access points and five-year license. The “gift” will help Meraki lock down future customers and make sure entrepreneurs have… Read More

An all-hands meeting at wireless network provider Meraki just closed with a bang: it’s raised $40 million and is now looking for a 100,000 square foot office according to my sources. The financing comes mostly from existing investors that likely include Sequoia and Northgate. Much of the $40 million is debt with the principal to be repaid within five years. Details on exact investors… Read More

Meraki, the cloud-based wireless networking company, has raised $15 million in Series C funding led by Sequoia Capital. This brings Meraki’s total funding to $40 million. Previous investors include Google, DAG Ventures and Northgate Capital.
Meraki provides hardware and software for building large scale wireless networks that are used by businesses, schools, and other organizations. Read More

This has been a brutal month or so for tech layoffs. According to our Layoff Tracker, there have been 19,683 job eliminations at tech companies announced since mid-September, and we’re not even counting the 24,600 people at Hewlett-Packard who are being eliminated as a result of its merger with EDS.
But only five big companies make up more than 90 percent of the layoffs: Xerox (3,000)… Read More

“Give to receive” is the mantra of a new initiative by Spanish startup Fon to bring “free” Wi-Fi to the residents of San Francisco’s Castro District.
The plan is the same one tried by Fon elsewhere: the company gives people Wi-Fi routers to install in their homes with the understanding that they will use them to share some of their internet connection with other… Read More

What do you get when a non-profit company slaps a wireless router inside a casing that plugs into a wall? Plug and play WiFi anyone? Netequality’s new box is designed for low-income families who can’t afford the internet. It works by integrating a Meraki wireless mesh router into an easier installation medium that costs just $79 and plugging DSL or Cable internet into one of the boxes. Read More